The Princess and the Pauper
by Hariel Lhikan
Summary: If you're a SEED fan who's ever wondered what it would be like if it had a fantasy theme, why don't you give this story a try? More inside.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer's note- I do not own Gundam Seed.

Summary- Completely AU, no references to Mobile Suits at all, except maybe names. The characters are the same as the ones in Cosmic Revolution and some Destiny characters, except Tiffa is Ryo's sister and Haro's a fairy. Pretty much your typical fantasy plot: peasant boy has big dreams, princess wants to see life outside the castle and runs away, boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, boy risks his life to save girl, girl falls for boy, and then a whole bunch of other stuff. Pairings: RyoxCagalli (sorry AthrunxCagalli fans!), KiraxLacus, DearkaxMiriallia, ShinnxStellar, ReyxLunamaria.

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Chapter 1

_When you hear the word "love", it can mean many different things. It can describe a sibling-like affection or just be used to emphasize one's happiness. Or it can just mean what it normally means, a strong bond between two people. Okay, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Hey! This is a fantasy story! Why the hell didn't it start with 'Once upon a time' or something like that?" Why? Because this story isn't that kind of fantasy. I'm not talking about happy little midgets and cute forest animals with the intellectual capacity to clean a cottage. I'm talking about real fantasy, with elves and dragons and that kind of stuff. You know; _action_ fantasy, none of that cheesy crap that you hear about Prince Charming saving the damsel in distress but real stuff. I'm talking_

"Hey! Ryo!" someone shouted, "Are you going to come out here or what?" Annoyed, I looked over to the window and saw a boy my age with messy black hair and reddish eyes peering into it. "Come on! Rey already went to get the others! You'd better hurry up if we're going to go on our trip!"

"Alright! Alright!" I replied, "I'll be right out, Shinn, just let me get my stuff!" I sighed and put down the feather quill that I had been using on my wood desk before standing up and heading over to the door. Pushing it open, I almost ran into a young girl up to my chin with long brown hair tied back into a pony tail with the sides hanging down like wings and deep blue eyes. In a nutshell, it was my little sister, Tiffa.

"Sorry, big brother," she said, "I was coming here to tell you that…"

"Shinn was looking for me?" I asked, "Don't worry, sis', I saw him out of the window."

"Oh," she smiled, "Well, have fun out there!"

"Thanks," I said, smiling as well before messing up her hair affectionately. She didn't mind, she giggled in fact. No matter what other people said of her, I still loved her dearly and she gladly returned the feelings. "I'd better get going, Shinn can get pretty impatient when it comes to these kind of things," I told her and she laughed as I left, not before grabbing a bundle along the way, though. As I went outside into the open and closed the door, I looked up and squinted my onyx colored eyes against the light, even though some of my black hair went past it in random strands.

"There you are!" Shinn said as he came over, "What took you?"

"I was writing," I answered, "And I was getting something good until you showed up and interrupted me."

"Fine, sorry for interfering with the novel."

"Hey, don't mock me because I'm interested in literature, Asuka, that doesn't mean that I don't wanna become a warrior any less." This part was true; it had always been my dream and passion to become a great warrior. Of course, a lot of boys throughout the kingdom had this kind of dream, although most of them never fulfill it. Just then, a certain blonde haired boy with icy blue eyes came up to us and with him came two girls, namely the Hawke sisters, Lunamaria and Meyrin. Both had lavender eyes, Lunamaria had somewhat short, reddish-purple hair while Meyrin's was tied up into two pigtails and more of a reddish color. As for the boy, Rey za Burrel, his blonde hair reached down past his shoulders and was amongst the quiet type. The others, on the other hand, Meyrin in particular, were much more sociable and enjoyed a conversation, although Shinn could be somewhat clumsy both verbally and physically at times. All of us were dressed pretty much the same, boys with long-sleeved wool shirts with cloth wrapped around the waist and wrists to keep the sleeves in place. Long pants and normal shoes were also part of the attire. The girls wore the same tops but wore long, casual gowns over short pants since the gowns had slits on the side to expose the legs and make running easier. All of the tops had hoods and came in a variety of colors, mine being grey with black pants. Most boys would carry a small defensive tool of some sort around and Rey, Shinn, and myself were no exceptions, all three of us carried slightly curved knives in leather sheaths tied to our cloth belts.

"Okay, is everyone ready?" Lunamaria asked, "I really wouldn't want to come back here in case we forgot something."

"I'm sure that we have everything," I replied, "Unless, of course, you want me to bring my sword with me."

"I think that we'll be just fine without it," Rey said with a smile, "The fields aren't that dangerous, you know." I had, of course, been talking about a weapon that I owned and it was one of my most prized possessions. The handle was a foot long in a prism like shape and the hand guard was about five inches, both were pitch black with cloth wrapped around the handle to keep my grip from slipping. The actual blade was a good four and a half feet in length and curved slightly like my knife. Unlike the traditional double-edged swords that other people, mostly knights, carried, mine only had one cutting edge and that meant that it was used primarily for slashing and cutting instead of jabbing, although it was possible to do it. Despite the fact that it was nearly as big as I was, since I was about four inches taller than it, I was pretty skilled with it and it wasn't a problem for me to wield it at all, since it was rather light considering its length because of the thin blade.

"Okay, we've got all that we need," Meyrin whined, "Now let's go! We've wasted enough time out here talking!" We laughed at this and set off. The younger Hawke sister can get rather annoying sometimes, since she was a year younger than all of us, being fifteen like my sister. As we walked through the path in the woods, carrying our baggage, the five of us chatted without concern and finally, after about fifteen minutes of walking, the trees parted to reveal the vast rolling plains that stretched as far as the eye could see. Grass covered knolls rose up everywhere, making the area popular during the winter as a great sledding spot. Also, sometimes large groups of fairies would fly around in the night during the summer, a phenomenon that was quite a sight to see as masses of multicolored lights floated around the ground like stars. Today, however, we were just here to enjoy the fresh air and some lunch that we had brought. We found a decent spot that had just enough sun and shade and sat down, talking some more before starting to eat. As we did, a gentle breeze swept across the plains, playing with our hair as the grass danced in its path.

"You know, it's times like this that I wish can last forever," Lunamaria said with a smile, "Just the five of us, out here in the open with the sun out, doesn't get much better than this."

"Yeah," I agreed, staring off in the direction of the market as I lay back and rested my head in my hands. It was a large area where villagers from all over the kingdom would come to buy, sell, and trade items. Slightly beyond that was a magnificent palace where the royal family lived. Its inner walls white as marble while its many towers were guarded by an iron gate and a stone wall patrolled by royal soldiers.

"Ryo? You feeling okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, just doing a bit of daydreaming."

"About what?"

"I've always wondered what it would be like to live in the palace, even for a day," I said distractedly, "I guess it would be great. I mean, think about it. You've got people who do your every bidding, the power to do just about anything you want, and great food. Sounds like a good life."

"Yeah, it does," Shinn agreed with a nod, turning his eyes over to where I was looking, "It kind of makes me wish that I did live there."

"Still," I suddenly pointed out, "I guess it would be kind of boring there without some friends to share it with. What's the point of having everything that you want if you can't share it with your friends?"

"You've got a point," Rey nodded, "I know I'd rather live like this with Luna than spend my life in the palace alone."

"Oh, you're such a tease, Rey za Burrel," Lunamaria smiled and lay against his arm, resting her head on his shoulder. Despite the fact that they were seventeen, the two had already established a strong relationship and their parents seemed to approve of it, they were pretty much waiting for the two to get engaged.

"Sure, easy for you to say, Rey," I said, looking at the two, "You've been in there more times than we have." Rey's father served in the royal guard and sometimes brought him to the palace when on an errand. Because of this, he had some military expertise and had long been considering serving in the guard along with his father. He had told us about those brief visits and he had even made a few friends among some of the younger guardsmen, all of them around his age.

"Yeah, well it's not like I had anything better to do back then."

"You know guys, why don't we go down to the spring?" Meyrin suggested out of no where, "It's been a while since we've been there. The rest of us agreed and we all got up and started towards the forest spring. It was a place where people could go to get some peace and quiet or to just sit around and admire the beauty of it. Fairies dwelled there and sometimes wild animals would appear as well, not minding if visitors were there at the same time. It was a tranquil place where conflict rarely aroused and it was shown by the clear water as well as luscious plant life, including rare species of flowers. When we got there, we saw that there wasn't anyone else and this suited us just fine, this meant that there was plenty of room for us to sit down and just enjoy the scenery. I chose to sit near the banks of the spring and was looking into it when I noticed something shining inside of the water that looked like a stone big enough to rest comfortably in my palm, even though the water itself seemed to be illuminated by some mysterious light. Curious, I reached into the water and grasped it with my fingers, lifting it out of the water and eyeing it.

"What do you have there, Ryo?"

"I dunno," I replied, examining it closely as the others came closer, "Looks like some kind of metal."

"Hey, I've seen that stuff before!" Lunamaria said excitedly, "That's a chunk of mithril that you're holding, Ryo! Boy, you're really lucky to find something like that!" At her words, the rest of us grew excited as well. Mithril was a very beautiful and extremely rare alloy, commonly used in jewelry or metalworking, a piece the size of my thumb could sell for much gold.

"Do you think there's more in there?" Shinn asked, looking at the calm waters.

"Maybe, but it would probably be better if we didn't look," Meyrin replied, "After all, we shouldn't disturb this place. Ryo just had a real stroke of luck, that's all."

"You have to admit, though, you really don't see this kind of luck everyday," Rey pointed out, "That thing's about the size of a padlock, that's a lot of mithril for one find. I've seen this much in shards but never in one whole chunk." They continued to talk about the find for a while until Shinn asked Ryo a somewhat random question.

"So, Ryo, what're you going to do with the money?"

"What do mean?"

"Hello, do you have any idea how much gold this thing is worth?" Shinn asked as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "You're going to sell it, right?"

"Maybe, I really don't know," I said, looking at it again, "I guess I can ask my dad to make something out of it and then sell whatever's left over; it'll still be a lot."

"What do you have in mind?" Meyrin asked.

"No clue, I guess I'll figure out later," I shrugged, putting the precious metal into my pocket, "Anyway, what do you say we start to head home? It's getting kind of late, and…" It was about then that something the size of a small rock hit me on the side of the head and dropped onto my shoulder. Alarmed, I looked around before noticing a patch of light resting on my shoulder and warily reached up to touch it. I noticed a strange lump there and picked it up with my fingers before dropping it into my palm. All of us could tell right away from the wings that it was a fairy and what confused us most was the fact that it had just dropped in on us, fairies were normally rather shy. A round, pinkish aura surrounded it like most fairies, although pink was a somewhat rare color for them. This particular one was a female the size of my little finger and had long, violet hair, which went well with her blue eyes; I estimated that she was just a bit younger than us in our years. "Today's definitely a weird day," I thought as the others gathered around.

"….Did that fairy just crash into your head?"

"I….guess so….I sure wasn't expecting it…"

"Sorry," the fairy replied in a surprisingly audible voice, "I was trying to get away from a bird back there when my foot got snagged onto something and I took a nasty fall through some branches. Got away alright, but I think I broke my leg; I couldn't fly straight 'cause it hurts so much."

"…I never thought I'd ever hear the words 'fairy' and 'fall' in the same sentence…"

"Shinn, not now," I said, taking a closer look at the injured leg, "Well, it's not that bad, but it should still be treated. Hold still for a bit." Saying that, I looked around and plucked a reed out of the ground and gently wrapped it around the leg, furrowing my brow in concentration. Eventually, the leg was bound tightly but comfortably, all that it needed now was time. "That should do it," I told her, "Just don't put too much weight on the leg and it should heal in a matter of days."

"Thanks," she smiled and then did something strange, she hovered in the air for a moment before flying up and coming to a rest on the top of my head before making herself comfortable up there.

"Um, you can leave now."

"Why? I like it up here."

"Well, you don't need my help anymore."

"But I like you," the fairy insisted, still refusing to leave, "You're the first person who ever helped me with anything; everyone else never listens to me."

"But-"

"Pleeeeeaaaaaase?" she begged, "It's a tradition for fairies to find a human partner at a certain age and back at home, everyone keeps teasing me because I still don't have one! Please let me stay with you!"

"Come on, Ryo, just let her stay," Lunamaria said, "After all, not everyone has a fairy partner. People who do are pretty lucky."

"Jeez, Ryo, did you eat four-leaf clovers for breakfast today or something?" Shinn asked jokingly, "First you stumble upon a chunk of mithril and now you have a fairy partner! Today's really your lucky day, huh?"

"I guess," I shrugged and then said, "Alright, you can stay, but try not to cause too much trouble, alright?"

"You got it," the fairy replied, "Oh, and by the way, my name's Hali." After we had all introduced ourselves, we all began the walk home, still talking about the great day that we had had.

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"Oh, Cagalli, why do you have to be so difficult?"

"Difficult? Me? Come on!" the said girl replied, crossing her arms across her chest, "That guy was a total jerk! All that he'd talk about was how rich he was and how great his horses were! How do you not call that difficult, Kira?" She was referring to her twin brother, a boy of sixteen with brown hair and violet eyes. Kira was an excellent scholar, although he was capable of defending himself and others quite easily. The speaking girl was Cagalli Yula Atha, the daughter of Uzumi Nara Atha, the current king of Orb, making Kira its prince. With shoulder length hair and amber eyes, Cagalli looked like a princess but her personality barely fitted her title. She was hotheaded with a temper to boot but was usually a nice person, only getting mad when she deemed it necessary. The two siblings were currently talking about Cagalli's latest suitor, who the princess of Orb had kicked out of the palace rather unceremoniously. Since she was at the age where most girls got married, her father had constantly sent for other noblemen to come and seek her hand in marriage. The thing was, he had yet to succeed in finding a suitor that Cagalli actually liked.

"I know, I didn't really like him either, but did you really have to chase him out of the front door with Stellar's broom like that?" Kira asked, sighing in exasperation. Stellar Loussier was a blonde haired girl with reddish-purple eyes about their age who served as one of Cagalli's attendants, she was currently off duty.

"It was the only way that I could get him to leave! Otherwise, he would have just kept on talking!" the princess replied before collapsing onto the bed that she was sitting on in frustration, "Why does father insist on sending these people here? How come I can't just choose a person that I actually want to be with?"

"Because it's the law, Cagalli; you're supposed to be married-"

"-to a prince before my birthday, I know," Cagalli sighed and put a hand over her face, "But that law is so stupid, Kira, I want to marry out of love, not arrangement."

"But Cagalli, you know that you're not allowed past the gates."

"I know that!" she practically screamed, "It's just…I really don't think that it's fair."

"Cagalli…"

"Kira, do you know what I really want?"

"What is it?"

"I want to have friends who will accept me for who I am, not just because I'm the princess," she sighed, "I mean, sure, I do have friends here, but they all treat me so formally. What I really want is a true friend who can understand me, even just one. And…maybe see the market up close for once." There was silence for a minute before Kira was struck by inspiration.

"Hey! I've got an idea!" he said, "Maybe we can arrange with mother to have you go out to the market with Stellar! Of course, you'll both be wearing disguises so that no one will recognize you."

"That's….great!" Cagalli beamed, pulling him into a tight hug happily, "Oh, Kira, you're the best brother ever!"

"Um, it's okay! Really!" Kira stammered, blushing a bit, "Come on, let's go now and maybe we can convince her to let the two of you go tomorrow." She nodded before letting go and soon, the two were walking quickly down the hallways of the palace, lit by enchanted torches the glowed brightly but produced no smoke. After a few minutes, they arrived at their parent's chamber and knocked, waiting for permission to enter before opening the mahogany doors.

"Oh, Kira, Cagalli!" their mother said, looking up from her patchwork, "I wasn't expecting you! Please, sit down." The two nodded and before long, they had told her everything and now awaited her response. A thoughtful look came to the queen's violet eyes that Kira inherited and finally, she smiled. "I think that it is a good idea," she nodded, "I'll tell Stellar and make arrangements for you two to go tomorrow."

"Really?" Cagalli asked, a smile of her own forming on her face, "Oh, thank you! I love you so much!"

"I do too," their mother laughed, "Now, go get some sleep. I'm sure that you'll want to leave early tomorrow. But remember, come back in time for meals and please try to stay out of trouble. Also, no one must know who you are, so keep your identity a secret, okay?" At Cagalli's nod, the queen dismissed them and the two went back to their rooms, with the princess eager for morning to come.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer's note- I do not own Gundam Seed.

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Chapter 2

"So, how do I look?"

"You look, um, convincing," Kira said thoughtfully, examining his sister's disguise. She was dressed like a normal civilian; it was even easier to disguise her because of the fact that she rarely if ever wore jewelry. Cagalli found this new attire rather enjoyable, since it was more casual and loose fitting than the expensive clothes that she normally wore. Stellar was also in the room, dressed in a similar way but not completely the same, as the colors were different. The plan was to get the two out through a separate exit, the guards had already been let in on the plan and they would know who was going in and out. After being wished good luck and a fun day by Kira, the two girls made their way to where a few guards were standing, who nodded to them and quickly escorted them to the door they would take as to not draw suspicion.

"You two be safe, now," a green eyed boy with chin length blue hair who was her age said to them.

"Relax, Athrun, we'll be fine," Cagalli smiled. Athrun Zala was one of her brother's best friends and she got along with him quite well too. His father, Patrick Zala, was a member of the king's council, meaning that Athrun was free to visit the palace at his leisure. "Okay, we'll take it from here," she said, "Thanks again, Miguel."

"No problem, your highness," the blonde haired guard replied with a nod, "We'll see you later." The two girls returned the nod and quickly went through the door, which was shut by the guards. The door led out into the garden, which Cagalli had spent many days of her childhood playing amongst the plants. Along the way, the two met four more people her age. The first was a silver haired boy with steel blue eyes by the name of Yzak Joule. He had a proud and somewhat arrogant personality but was trustworthy and a promising soldier. Another, a brown eyed boy with curly green hair, was Nicol Amalfi. Unlike Yzak, he was quiet by nature but had a talent for music, also possessing unquestionable loyalty. The third was a blonde haired, tanned skin boy named Dearka Elsman. Rash and egotistical, the teen was also a promising soldier but preferred to spend his time goofing off. All three of them also had parents in the council and were good friends with Athrun, although Yzak's relationship with him was more of a rivalry. They also weren't the same age as he was, Yzak and Dearka both being seventeen while Nicol was only fifteen. The fourth was the only female amongst them, Miriallia Haww. With blue eyes and short, brown hair, she was another of Cagalli's attendants and was her age as well as gifted with an amazing photographic memory, which sometimes proved both useful and annoying.

"Oh! Good morning, Cagalli!" Miriallia said to her, "I guess you're leaving for town?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "Well, we'll see you later, I'm really excited!"

"Have fun!" Nicol called out as they went through the gate that barred the garden off from the rest of the world. After going through another courtyard, the two finally managed to find a road that would lead them to the market place. It only took them a few minutes to reach it and when they had reached it, Cagalli was fascinated by the sight almost immediately. Everywhere that the turned, they saw a people moving around and endless stalls and shops selling and trading various items. One particular stand seemed to be quite popular amongst the people and when the two girls went to take a closer look, they saw that the owner was selling some sort of material.

"Excuse me, but could you tell us what this is?" Stellar asked a nearby customer politely.

"You don't know? Why, it's silk, my friend!" the shopper said with a smile, "This guy's having a sale today and everyone's eager to get their hands on some of the stuff." Stellar nodded her thanks and the two went off again. Now, it just so happened that a certain two boys were in the market that same day to check some stuff out, having really nothing better to do. The red eyed one was busy looking through a nearby stand while the other one who had onyx eyes was looking through the crowd to see if anything caught his interest, accompanied by his fairy partner. And something did. As he looked towards the silk stand, he noticed two girls about his age and found one of them, Cagalli to be more specific, to be startlingly attractive. Without looking away, he reached behind him and tapped his friend on the shoulder.

"Hey, Shinn, come look at this."

"What is it, Ryo?" the red eyed boy asked before Ryo pointed in the direction of the girls. When he looked, he too found one of them rather good looking, although it was the other one, Stellar, which he had his sights on. "Whoa, where are they from?"

"Dunno, they don't look like they're from around here." It was about then that the two girls noticed a young street urchin looking longingly at a stand that was selling red, rather delicious looking apples. The two boys noticed this too and watched, wondering what would happen. Then, Cagalli, feeling sympathy for the urchin, reached out and took a rather large apple before handing it to the little boy, alarming Ryo and Shinn.

"Is she nuts?"

"She must be, otherwise she'd have to have a lot of guts to steal from Bart's stand," Ryo said as the two started towards the two girls. At that moment, however, trouble started, as the said owner had noticed what had just occurred.

"I believe you'll be paying for that now?" the burly owner said to the two girls, not knowing that one of them was really the princess while the street urchin turned and fled with his meal.

"Um…pay?" Cagalli asked, feeling somewhat confused.

"No one steals from my stand!" the owner declared and grabbed onto Cagalli's arm, preventing her from moving away.

"Okay, okay! I get it!" the princess said irritably, "If you'll just let me go back to the palace, I'll-" She stopped short, already having said too much but the owner didn't seem to notice. By now, a large crowd had gathered to see what was happening and Ryo, Hali, and Shinn were making their way through, having already formulated a plan.

"Do you know what the penalty for stealing is?" Bart asked as he forcefully set Cagalli's arm onto the counter before drawing a sword and all who were present knew what was about to happen. Cagalli squeezed her eyes shut and looked away, waiting for the blade to fall and severe her forearm from the elbow. All of a sudden, someone had grabbed the sword hand and she heard a voice speaking.

"Oh, thank you so much, kind sir!" the stranger said and the princess of Orb opened her eyes to see that the speaker was actually a boy about her age with black hair and eyes of a similar color. He was accompanied by a shorter boy of the same age with the same colored hair but with eerie red eyes as well as a pinkish orb of light that she recognized as a fairy. "There you are, we've been looking all over for the two of you!" the speaker continued as the two boys moved forward and Cagalli's arm was freed before the onyx eyed boy started to move her away from the now confused owner while Stellar was being led by the red eyed boy.

"What are you doing?" Cagalli whispered, surprised and slightly irritated by the sudden turn of events, although she also felt something stir inside of her.

"Just trust me, okay? We'll get you out of this," her savior who she didn't know was Ryo assured her quietly.

"You…know these girls?" Bart asked the two boys.

"Huh? Oh, um, yes! Yes, we do!" Ryo laughed, before pointing to Cagalli and adding, "This one's my father's….brother's….uncle's…." The list went on and on before he finally stopped with, "…cousin…twice removed. The other one's her friend."

"She said something about knowing the king."

"She did? Oh, well, I'm terribly sorry about that, you'll have to excuse her," Ryo said, continuing to act, "She's got a couple of screws loose in there, so, uh, this…this happens a lot. Yeah. I mean, she thinks that my fairy partner's the king!" Cagalli, having finally caught on, though further annoyed by being called crazy, decided to play along and bowed her head to the fairy, who was currently busy examining her fingernails.

"Oh, wise, exalted king," she spoke, trying hard not to smile, "How may I serve you?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? I'm not the king," Hali said with a startled tone.

"She doesn't know that!" Ryo whispered to her, talking from the corner of his mouth, "Come on, play along here, will ya?"

"Uh, oh, right, gotcha!" the fairy laughed sheepishly before clearing her throat and saying in her best impression of the king, despite not knowing what he sounded like "Um, yes, good morning to you, loyal subject! All is well, you may proceed." This comical act drew quite a bit of snickers from the crowd; they had never seen anything like this before.

"Well, I'm really sorry for all the trouble, so…" Ryo smiled as he reached behind his back and grabbed another apple before tossing it to the now flabbergasted owner, "…here's your apple back! Um, enjoy and, uh, have a nice day! Come on, cousin, it's time to go see the doctor."

"Why, hello, doctor, how are you today?" Cagalli asked with a somewhat dazed expression on her face to a horse that was standing nearby as Ryo led her away.

"No, no, not _that_ one," he told her, still keeping up the act, "Let's go, your majesty." The last comment was directed towards Hali, who immediately flew after them as they left. They kept this up for a few more minutes until they had reached a fairly deserted part of the market and Ryo and Shinn steered the two girls into an alleyway.

"Thanks for the help," Cagalli said, sighing with relief, "Oh, and you can let go now."

"Sorry," Ryo replied, letting go of her shoulders, "Well, that was…interesting. You two aren't from around here, are you?"

"Actually…"

"No," Stellar answered before Cagalli could give anything away, "We're a few minutes away from here."

"Oh? Then you should live somewhere near us," Shinn said, "We live in the village not far from here."

"Well, we live in a different village."

"Really? Odd, I don't remember there being another village," Ryo stated, "Shinn, do you know anything about this?"

"No, I'm just as clueless as you are."

"Well, anyway, I guess that doesn't matter," Ryo said before adding, "Oh! I'm sorry; in the heat of everything, we never really introduced ourselves. My name's Ryo Mouri and that's my fairy partner Hali." There was silence before Ryo glanced over to Shinn and sharply nudged him in the ribs with his elbow.

"Oh, right! Um, I'm Shinn Asuka, Ryo and I are good friends."

"My name's Stellar Loussier," Stellar smiled, "It's nice to meet you." At this point, Ryo noticed that Shinn was blushing somewhat heavily and staring at Stellar. Stellar seemed to notice this too and she looked down at the ground, although it was clear that she too was somewhat flushed in the cheeks.

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"I-I'm…Cagalli," the second girl said after a short delay, "Cagalli Yula."

"Cagalli…Yula?" Shinn asked, frowning, "You wouldn't happen to have a connection with Cagalli Yula _Atha_, the king's daughter?"

"Huh? Um, no! No, none at all!" Cagalli replied with a laugh, "Though I do get that comment a lot."

"Is there something you're not telling us?"

"Are you implying that I'm hiding something?" Cagalli asked dangerously, giving Shinn a look of pure venom, startling both boys.

"That's some temper she's got there," I thought, slightly amused and feeling somewhat sorry for Shinn to have to be on the receiving end of the death glare.

"No! Not all!" Shinn stammered, backing away slowly, "It's just….ugh, never mind."

"I thought so," the amber eyed blonde huffed, crossing her arms.

"You know, you're not like most girls that I know," I told her, although I was a bit cautious.

"Are-are you hitting on me!" Cagalli gaped, sounding surprised and somewhat angry at the same time, though I could see a blush coming on.

"Of course not! Where the hell did you get that idea!" I replied, cocking an eyebrow in surprise, "All I'm saying that I've never seen a girl who can make Shinn back down like that!"

"What do you mean?" Stellar asked politely, cocking her head to the side slightly in confusion.

"Even if he doesn't look like it, Shinn's a really tough guy," I said, pointing to him, "But a second ago, he was practically cowering under your friend's glare! That's no small thing, mind you!"

"What! I was _not_ cowering!"

"Ah, give it a rest, Asuka, we all saw it," I grinned, prodding his forehead with my finger, "You looked just about ready to wet yourself back there."

"Bastard! I dare you to say that again!" Shinn growled and his red eyes narrowed considerably before taking a swing at my face. I just stepped back and let his momentum carry him to the ground, watching as he fell face first onto the cobble stones in amusement. Greatly frustrated, he got back up and attacked again, this time missing by a foot and crashing into Stellar, causing both of them to fall onto the ground.

"Stellar!" Cagalli cried and the two of us went to help them up, only to see when they sat up that both of them were blushing considerably. "Stellar? What happened, are you alright?" Stellar's face only became redder and it didn't take a genius to figure out that Shinn had apparently accidentally groped Stellar when they had fallen.

"I'm really sorry," Shinn mumbled, his face resembling an overgrown tomato from his embarrassment, "I didn't mean for that to happen…"

"It's alright," Stellar said almost breathlessly, "It was just an accident, no harm done."

"What do you mean 'no harm done'!" Cagalli asked, looking rather angry as she rounded on poor Shinn, "You just violated her personal space, you pervert!"

"Hey now, don't go hating Shinn just because he's clumsy sometimes," I said, sticking up for my friend, "He's a good guy at heart; really, he'd never do something like that on purpose. Besides, we're all kind of at fault here."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it was my fault for provoking him," I began thoughtfully, "And it's also kind of Stellar's fault for standing in that spot. Then again, you did scare him quite a bit, which tempted me to provoke him and it was also his fault for not remembering that the two of you were still here." This went on for a few minutes before I finally stopped to find that the others were quite confused. I was just about to say something else before Cagalli interrupted me.

"Hold on, so you're saying that it's _my_ fault that this happened?"

"No, I was _going_ to so say that it's just about time for lunch and ask if the two of you wanted to go get something to eat with me and Shinn."

"You mean…as in a date?" Cagalli asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No! Not as in a date! We've only known each other for, what, twenty minutes for crying out loud!" I replied exasperatedly, "I meant that it might be fun if we all went somewhere to get some lunch and then go hang out somewhere; you know, to get to know each other better. A dark alleyway isn't exactly the most fun place to socialize, you know."

"Good point," Cagalli said, "So, where are we going?"

"Well, I know of this little place where…"

"Um, Cagalli, don't you think we should be going now?" Stellar suddenly asked, looking a bit nervous, "After all, we did say we'd be back by lunch."

"Ah, don't worry, Stellar," the tomboyish blonde replied, "I'm sure our parents won't mind."

"But…"

"Fine, you know what? Why don't we just go on home and tell them that we'll be eating out today and then just come back here?"

"Well, I suppose so…"

"Great!" Cagalli smiled before turning to Shinn and I and saying, "Do us a favor, will you? Wait for us by the silk stand and then we'll go when we get back." Shinn and I nodded and she smiled as we left the alleyway. As we passed people on the way, some of them smiled and commented on the show that we had put on earlier today. When we finally parted ways, I could have sworn that the two looked back at us before disappearing. As soon as they were gone, I turned to Shinn and noticed that he was blushing again.

"I bet they felt good, huh, Shinn?"

"Shut up."

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"Where are Cagalli and Stellar? Weren't they supposed to be back by now?" the queen asked Kira as they sat at the table.

"I dunno, I guess they're having some trouble finding their way through the crowd."

"Don't be ridiculous, son, all they would have to do is look up and they'd see the palace," his father, the king, Uzumi Nara Atha replied, "Dear, are you sure that it was a good idea to let our daughter run around like this?"

"Don't worry, Stellar's with her, remember?" the queen smiled, "I'm sure that she'll keep Cagalli in line."

"Besides, she will need to know her way around when she gets married, won't she?" another person asked politely. The speaker was a girl Kira's age and in fact, a very good friend of his. She was Lacus Clyne, her father being Siegel Clyne, a member of his father's council. With long pink hair and blue eyes, Lacus was a person who was difficult to dislike for her kind ways. She treated everyone with respect and her cheerful personality was matched by a wonderful singing talent. Seated at the table also was Athrun Zala, Dearka Elsman, Yzak Joule, and Nicol Amalfi. Since their parents were members of the council, they all usually had their meals in the palace with their families at the grand dining table, which was large enough to accommodate more than twenty people. On the occasions of parties or balls, however, the table could be extended to seat even more people. It was about then that a guard arrived with a rather strange message.

"Pardon me, your majesty. The princess and her attendant wanted me to tell you that they will not be joining you for lunch today."

"What? Why not?" Kira asked, feeling a bit alarmed.

"They apparently found somewhere to 'eat out' for today."

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"Um, Ryo? What are these?"

"What do you mean 'what are these'?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow, "They're Kebabs, haven't you even eaten one before?"

"Um….no," she replied slowly and Shinn nearly fell out of his chair in shock while I just stared at her and blinked a few times.

"You've….never eaten a Kebab before?" Shinn asked as he straightened himself, looking bewildered.

"…No…I've never heard of them either…"

"….What kind of life have you been living?"

"Just what are you saying?" Cagalli asked, narrowing her eyes again.

"Well, whether you know this or not, Cagalli," I said, sensing her temper rising, "Kebabs are rather popular dishes around here. Now, I don't mean any offence when I say that I have no idea of what you've been eating your whole life but we do find it rather strange that you've never eaten, much less seen, a Kebab before."

"…So…?"

"So I'm guessing that you really aren't from around here, are you?"

"I told you, Stellar and I…"

"I know," I replied, "But still, you should at least know what a Kebab is; I mean, come on, the only people who've probably never eaten a Kebab before are probably in the Royal Family or something." I noticed that the two girls were looking a bit uncomfortable after I had said that and so I asked them what was wrong.

"It's…it's nothing, really."

"Well, if you insist," I shrugged, "Now, are you going to eat your Kebab or not? Shinn and I paid for this stuff, you know, you can at least try it." Stellar glanced at the food in front of her once before picking it up and taking a small nibble. The rest of us watched her for a bit until she smiled and looked up.

"It's good, what's it made of?"

"Dunno," Shinn replied, "The people who run this place keep the recipe a secret so that they won't have competition; this is the only place in the whole market that sells these things." Meanwhile, Cagalli was looking at her own Kebab and after a second or too, put it to her mouth and took a bite. Her expression quickly changed from doubtful to quite satisfied and I couldn't help but feel amused as she finished the rest of it with relish.

"I guess you like them, then," I smiled as she swallowed the last of it.

"Sure do," she said, sighing contently, "Never tasted anything like it before."

"That's because-"

"You know what I mean!" Cagalli laughed and I smiled too, I knew exactly what she meant. It was strange, we had just met and I seemed to have already taken a liking in her, though the same was clearly apparent with Shinn and Stellar from the way that he blushed whenever she smiled at him. I glanced at Cagalli again and then at the other two and she got the message, smiling again. I suppressed a chuckle and then the two of us burst out laughing when Shinn's face turned a shade of red that I didn't believe possible when Stellar actually took his hand. It was the start of a new friendship.


End file.
